In a distant future, the desert planet Arrakis is the sole source of the Spice Melange, the most valuable substance in the universe. When the Emperor decrees that House Atreides will take control of Arrakis from their mortal enemies, House Harkonnen, young Paul Atreides is torn from his lush homeworld and thrust into a web of political treachery. The handover is a trap: the Harkonnens, with secret Imperial aid, slaughter the Atreides forces and kill Paul's father, Duke Leto. Fleeing into the deep desert with his mother Jessica, Paul finds refuge among the Fremen, the planet's fierce native inhabitants. As he masters their ways and consumes the Spice, dormant powers awaken within him—visions of possible futures, terrible and vast. Embraced as a prophesied leader, Paul transforms from a reluctant heir into a messianic warlord. He leads the Fremen in a savage uprising against the Harkonnens, avenges his father, and seizes control of Arrakis. But victory demands a terrible price: to secure the imperial throne, Paul must marry Princess Irulan, a political union that betrays his love for the Fremen warrior Chani. The boy who never wanted power becomes Emperor, trapped in the same cycle of duty and compromise that destroyed his father, while Chani—pregnant with his child—watches with hollow eyes.
